One of TNA’s newest signings, Gabby Forza sat down with Soundsphere to tell us all about her career, her relationship to WWE superstar Bayley, her plans for the future – and the lesser-gnome facts about her origin story.
Image credit: TNA
Soundsphere: So, what attracted you to TNA wrestling after becoming so successful on the indies?
Gabby Forza: I’ve been trying to prove that I’m the strongest on the independent wrestling scene, and maybe one of the strongest women’s wrestlers out there today. So at every opportunity, I’ve been trying to prove that, and I think word got out there, and TNA found out about a very strong gnome, and I got to compete in the TNA Knockouts TV Tournament that didn’t even exist the week before, which was so cool.
So to be part of something that literally did not exist previously is like an insane debut, and I just felt so ready; I felt so excited. But what attracted me to TNA is really the fact that so many strong women have dominated TNA and made themselves go from women’s wrestler that is strong to a huge star. I could see myself there, and I want to go up against the best.
Soundsphere: You come from a football and a powerlifting background, like a lot of wrestlers. What made you personally want to cross over the line into wrestling after such a storied career in so many other things?
Gabby Forza: So, honestly, wrestling was something I wanted to try. I did not know how it would go, but I wanted to try wrestling. But I was doing football. I was doing powerlifting, and those sports are very demanding; they require your full effort and attention. You can’t just start doing wrestling. If I commit to something, I’m giving it my all, and it gets my full attention. Whether it’s powerlifting, wrestling, or football, if you go in there and you give 30%, you’re just gonna get hurt.
But I had wrestling on my mind for a few years already, and I was watching as a fan at independent shows, and I was like, if I did this one day, I would want to fight the men. I need to go into wrestling the strongest I’ve ever been. So I was already training for those goals, but I also want to fight the largest and strongest wrestlers. I want to go up against the best. And from watching someone like Chris Statlander on the independent wrestling scene before she went to AEW, that is kind of how she became the next level of herself. So I studied her a lot, and I studied Jordynne Grace a lot, and I loved what they were doing. They were like a huge part of my inspiration in wrestling.
So from watching independent wrestling, I wanted to finish off football in a way I’m proud of. Like, I finished my last season as a two-time national champion linebacker, so that was something I wanted to finish off on a high note and end that career before I started the next one. And I finished my last season of football the same year I started wrestling.
Image credit: TNA
Soundsphere: You made your debut competing for the TNA Knockouts TV Championship. How encouraging was that for you, and is that championship still in your crosshairs?
Gabby Forza: Absolutely. So to me, it was amazing just to wrestle for TNA. That was my goal for this year. So I’m super proud of myself for going into something with nothing to lose, everything to gain, and it couldn’t have gone better. But I’m excited to officially be part of the TNA Knockouts roster, and now whoever wins that title, I will be watching closely. I’m very excited, though the girls deserve it. But I’m also a big threat now, so I’m excited to mix it up with everyone.
Soundsphere: We need to talk about something that went viral very recently, which is your connection to Bayley at WWE. Can you tell me about the origins of your relationship?
Gabby Forza: Yeah, so I love Bayley as a wrestler, and as a person, she really changed a lot of women wrestlers’ lives throughout our careers, just from following her from afar. I think with her being an independent wrestler from the start, she wanted to give back, and her way of doing that was starting the Lodestone Women Group seminar. It’s so special. It gives us all something else to work towards besides just a contract or getting signed or being on TV.
She doesn’t even know this, but she gave us all something to look forward to and be part of. A week before the seminar, I got the email. I think I stopped checking by that point. And then I just checked one more time; I got the email that I was selected from Bayley. She sent me the information, and I booked my flight immediately. All the women in the Lodestone seminar, the first one ever, we all have a very special bond now.
It was just the best week of our lives, and we all gained so much from it. It was very emotional to be in a room full of women who were just speaking such meaningful, authentic, and inspiring words to us. Charlotte Flair got me so bad. She said something life-changing for a lot of us, and it hit all of us really hard. And Nattie, she spent some time with us, Bianca Belair stopped by, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, John Cena, and so many others.
Bayley supporting us meant the world because we didn’t think anyone cared about us struggling independent wrestlers. So to know that she cares that much, and that the women of that locker room care that much, even ones that weren’t there, it meant the world. And ever since the seminar, we have all blown up in our own way. People have gotten signed. People have gotten tryouts. She just saw something in us that we didn’t see in ourselves yet, and that vote of confidence meant the world.
So I now have a new level of confidence where I feel like I can take on not just anyone or anything due to my strength, but I really do believe in myself now thanks to her. She messages me pretty often, and she keeps in touch with all of us. So I couldn’t be more grateful, and she’s really excited for me being at TNA too, which feels really nice.
Image credit: TNA
Soundsphere: TNA Lockdown is coming up very soon. What I want to know is there any chance that you’re going to be in a cage with anybody that night?
Gabby Forza: I have some experience; I’ve wrestled in a cage three times, and I’ve actually won most of those matches and made some people suffer – greatly. So I would be honored, but I think if I were wrestling at Lockdown, it would benefit whoever I got to wrestle with or team against. Nothing’s announced, but you never know. I know I will be there…
Soundsphere: How’s TNA been as home to you so far?
Gabby Forza: From the moment I walked in and appeared at TNA, I felt like I was at home. The locker room was super kind towards me, very encouraging. So it’s been really awesome, and I’m excited to work with everyone, and I’m very happy to be part of a very healthy and positive locker room.
Soundsphere: I’ve got to ask about the gnome collection. How did that start?
Gabby Forza: I grew up not having a lot of friends. I was super lonely, and I wanted to figure that out. And I would literally look up at the sky and scream, “What do I have to do to make friends and feel like I belong on this earth?” And what do you know? A gnome appears literally in the bushes, and I was like, “Am I tripping? No, there’s a literal gnome there,” and so that started a lifelong habit of looking for gnomes, being curious about them.
Their lore is very inspiring to me, so I channel a lot of strength from them. They’re a symbol of hope to me, and basically, whenever I see a gnome, I see a reason to keep going. It’s helped me out of some pretty dark times as a young kid, and it’s helped me not only make friends, but now I’m like everyone’s friend. And your homie, the gnomey, was born. So that’s kind of my story with that. And I have 500 gnomes in my house. So that’s the thing that makes me happy.
I think everyone has something that they should go back to and build that relationship with themselves. And so for me, it’s been gnomes, and there have been a lot of scary things I’ve done in my life where I was just so nervous and didn’t believe in myself. And I always was like, the gnomes believe in you, so you have to do this thing. And anytime I wrestle, when I’m about to go out there, if I’m freaking out because wrestling is very scary, obviously. I look down at my little gnome, and I put my little hat on, and I buckle up my shoulder pads. I’m like, “You got this. You’re the gnomey. So it’s been a fun journey.
TNA Wrestlingpresents Lockdown – a showcase event in which every match is contested inside a steel cage — on Sunday, August 23, broadcasting live around the world on pay-per-view from Credit Union 1 Arena in downtown Chicago. It marks TNA’s first Lockdown event since 2016, and the company’s first-ever show at the history-filled arena.